BCCI committee to decide on CWG financial help

Mumbai: A decision on the television broadcasting rights and the request of the Delhi Commonwealth Games (CWG) organisers for financial help are likely to be taken up for discussion when the Cricket Board’s Working Committee meets here tomorrow.

The letter to the Board for financial assistance to the tune of Rs 100 crore had come from Indian Olympic Association chief Suresh Kalmadi who is also the chairman of the CWG Organising Committee.

Last year, the BCCI came to the rescue of the All India Football Federation to assist it in prepararing the Indian squad for the upcoming Asian Cup, for which the team has qualified after almost a quarter century, and granted AIFF Rs 25 crore for this specific purpose.

However, BCCI and IOA are not known to share a cordial relationship as the latter had hit out at the Board for either not sending any team or sending a second-string squad for multi-discipline events.

IOA was quick to pounce and decry BCCI for its decision on June 1 not to send a team for the Guangzhou Asian Games in November where T20 cricket is to make its debut.

“It has become commercial, cricket has become very commercial. In Olympic and Asian Games there are only medals, no money. So, I don’t think anybody from cricket world will be interested in taking part,” Kalmadi had said.

More recently, reacting to news reports that Kalmadi had approached the Sports Ministry to persuade the Board for changing the Australian tour dates as they clashed with the October 3-14 Commonwealth Games, Board president Shashank Manohar ruled out a change in schedule of the tour by saying that a request to do so had not come to the BCCI from any quarters.

The Working Committee is also likely to take a decision on the awarding the television broadcasting rights for the coverage of home matches to be played by India till December 2013.

The bid documents had been made available since last week onwards upon payment of Rs five lakh.

According to recent reports, World Sports Group, Nimbus and International Management Group (IMG) are among the companies competing for the rights.